Thank you for your kindness Rich. I got the image and see it boots up the PC.

One (dumb) question - I have two Series 3 TiVos (the THX model). Can I install the drive into TiVo B, transfer all programs from A to B and then put that drive into TiVo A? i.e. can drives set up in same model TiVos be moved around and keep their programing?
If not, I can do a move to a computer and then load back up, as if I owned just the one TiVo. Just asking as I'm sure this has come up before. Somewhere.

Yeah, you can't move the full drive between TiVo (succesfully) because to resolve the HW error you have to clear & delete a drive after transfering it to a new TiVo.

But if you're doing the drive upgrade yourself using the WinMFS tools there is an option to copy a TiVo drive, including all recordings and settings, to the new larger drive.

And if you're using a drive image or purchasing a plug-and-play preimaged drive upgrade, rather than WinMFS, there are still a couple options for saving your shows.

You could certainly use TiVo desktop to copy the shows from TiVo A to your computer, then upgrade TiVo A and transfer them back. (Well, depending on how your cable provider set the copy protection bits. Some shows may not be transferable).

Or, assuming suffient space in TiVo B, you could:
1) transfer the shows from TiVo A to TiVo B (using Multi-Room Viewing)
2) upgrade the drive in TiVo A
3) tranfer the shows TiVo B back to TiVo A
(Same copy restriction limitations apply, but copies between TiVo are usually faster than copies between a TiVo and PC.)

Yeah, you can't move the full drive between TiVo (succesfully) because to resolve the HW error you have to clear & delete a drive after transfering it to a new TiVo.

Yes, Clear & Delete Everything after booting is very important. Without it the TiVo will appear to sort of work, but that's just a patina, it will be fundamentally broken.

Quote:

You could certainly use TiVo desktop to copy the shows from TiVo A to your computer, then upgrade TiVo A and transfer them back.

Yes that works, but copying from a TiVo HD it's slower than real-time. So copying 30 hours of HD can take an entire weekend (don't ask how I know that!). Perhaps with the GP poster's original S3 it will be faster.

I'm not clear about why you'd want to do that, but I hope that helps or maybe I misunderstood your question altogether...wouldn't be the first time. Happy upgrading!

It just seemed an easy way to preserve the recordings. You got it right. I understand, and suspected the HD becomes tied to the unit. With multiple TiVos in the house, I'll take my time moving recordings around to free up the S3 to install the new drive. Instant Cake took 3 minutes, and the software you pointed me to, seconds. Thanks again. I'm set for now.

It just seemed an easy way to preserve the recordings. You got it right. I understand, and suspected the HD becomes tied to the unit. With multiple TiVos in the house, I'll take my time moving recordings around to free up the S3 to install the new drive. Instant Cake took 3 minutes, and the software you pointed me to, seconds. Thanks again. I'm set for now.

There was a script posted years ago over at DDB called mkdiskconfig.tcl which basically did the same thing. I used it on several Series 2 DirecTivos before WinMFS ever existed, but I'm not sure about its compatibility with Series 3s. And I suppose you'd probably have to have a prom mod'd Series 3 to use it anyway, so it's most likely not very useful to most folks here.

Trying to upgrade a Series3 to a 1.5TD WD drive with WinMFS. First time it worked okay, seeing both the old and new drives and allegedly moving my shows as instructed. But once installed in the S3, it did the same thing the old drive did - failing to completely boot up and hanging in Now Playing. I thought I'd do the C&DE transfer instead but this time WinMFS could only see the new drive, not the old WD250. I've tried switching them around but cannot get the former drive recognized. Any ideas what might have changed to make it invisible to WinMFS?
BTW, is a 1.5TB drive okay? I know there used to be a 1TB limit, but I need all the space I can get.
Thanks,
Z

Trying to upgrade a Series3 to a 1.5TD WD drive with WinMFS. First time it worked okay, seeing both the old and new drives and allegedly moving my shows as instructed. But once installed in the S3, it did the same thing the old drive did - failing to completely boot up and hanging in Now Playing. I thought I'd do the C&DE transfer instead but this time WinMFS could only see the new drive, not the old WD250. I've tried switching them around but cannot get the former drive recognized. Any ideas what might have changed to make it invisible to WinMFS?
BTW, is a 1.5TB drive okay? I know there used to be a 1TB limit, but I need all the space I can get.
Thanks,
Z

Sorry to hear that you're having problems with your TiVo and the upgrade. It sounds like the OS image on your original hard drive has become corrupted...possibly to the point that it can no longer be used. I would try reinstalling your original hard drive in your TiVo and running some of TiVo's built-in diagnostic and repair programs called "Kickstarts":

I am ready to order my drive for my TiVoHD upgrade. I just want to confirm with someone (maybe Richsadams or someone that recently and successfully upgraded their drive) that this is the proper drive to buy:

I am ready to order my drive for my TiVoHD upgrade. I just want to confirm with someone (maybe Richsadams or someone that recently and successfully upgraded their drive) that this is the proper drive to buy:

I have decided to run AAM on the Hitachi Drive rather than mess around with Intellipark settings on the WD drives.

Additionally, I believe this drive comes with a SATA cable, but not a molex power connector, right?

Any reason NOT to buy this drive? The only additional item I need to buy is the molex power connector?

Thanks!

Yes, that's the right drive (the drive in the box is a Hitachi Deskstar 7K1000.c). Yes the retail kit you listed comes with a SATA cable but not a molex power adapter. I have two of those drives in an NAS and they run very quiet and cool. I didn't change the AAM of course, but if you do it should be even quieter.

If you don't have an open SATA power lead coming out of your computer's power supply you can certainly use a molex SATA power adapter like this one (or this one if you need to split the power between two drives, one SATA and one IDE). However if your computer is fairly recent and the CD/DVD drive is SATA you could borrow that power connector.

Yes, that's the right drive. Yes it comes with a SATA cable but not a molex power adapter. I have two of those drives in an NAS and they run very quiet and cool. I didn't change the AAM of course, but if you do it should be even quieter.

If you don't have an open SATA power lead coming out of your computer's power supply you can certainly use a molex SATA power adapter like this one. However if your computer is fairly recent and the CD/DVD drive is SATA you could borrow that power connector.

So it sounds like your all set to roll. Happy upgrading!

Thanks Rich. But if I understand correctly, I will need to power 3 drives simultaneously in the PC while I do the upgrade (stock TiVo drive, new Hitachi upgrade drive, and main PC drive). I checked the insides the other day of my 6 month old HP PC, and found that the CD/DVD drive has a SATA cable and SATA power cable just like you mention, but all the other power connectors in the box are the 4 pin molex type (see picture - black connector is to DVD and white one is spare).

So yes, I could borrow the CD/DVD connectors for 1 drive, but would need another set of cables for the other drive. Right?

Thanks Rich. But if I understand correctly, I will need to power 3 drives simultaneously in the PC while I do the upgrade (stock TiVo drive, new Hitachi upgrade drive, and main PC drive). I checked the insides the other day of my 6 month old HP PC, and found that the CD/DVD drive has a SATA cable and SATA power cable just like you mention, but all the other power connectors in the box are the 4 pin molex type (see picture - black connector is to DVD and white one is spare).

So yes, I could borrow the CD/DVD connectors for 1 drive, but would need another set of cables for the other drive. Right?

Ah yes, if you're intending to save settings and recordings you'd need both your original TiVo drive and your new drive connected to your computer and powered up at the same time. Since your computer's drive is already powered that adapter should work just fine to deliver power to the other two.

Hey all, just to confirm I recently installed a new WD15EARS into my S3
TCD648250, installed stock image no disabling of intellipark and have had no software reboot issues. Looks like thes drives are a go, I will also test in a TivoHD unit as well

Hey all, just to confirm I recently installed a new WD15EARS into my S3
TCD648250, installed stock image no disabling of intellipark and have had no software reboot issues. Looks like thes drives are a go, I will also test in a TivoHD unit as well

WD15EARS Build Date March 19th 2010

That is good news indeed. Hopefully someone will be able to try out one of the more recent WD GP 1TB drives as well. To be clear, you used your stock TiVo image, not the special 1.5TB/2.TB image correct?

That is good news indeed. Hopefully someone will be able to try out one of the more recent WD GP 1TB drives as well. To be clear, you used your stock TiVo image, not the special 1.5TB/2.TB image correct?

Thanks for that!

That is correct sir no "special image" that only works in the TivoHD anyhow correct?
I didnt buy any of the newer WD1tb drives. the 1.5 was only 10 bux more, although I did pick up a 1tb Hitachi for 69 shipped, the retail kit, what a steal

Hi guys, just offering up a tip from my experience with replacing the TiVo hdd.

If you have an Asus mobo with AI Quiet (e.g. my p5w-dh from a few years back), setting the AAM will not work properly (it will appear to set the AAM to 128 but on reboot it will revert back to default!). This is no matter what tool you use (HDD Scan or Hitachi Tools). I found this out after noticing the hdd noise was surprisingly loud after I reinstalled it into my tivo the first time around. So I had to find another computer to set the AAM properly and have it stick.
Reference: www silentpcreview.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=58156

The second hitch was that setting AAM to 128 with Hitachi Tools would automatically set the mode to 'Enable (recommended value)' rather than 'Enable (user defined)'. The only way I could get around this was to select an AAM of 129 and then it stuck to 'Enable (user defined)'.

It appears that TCL comes on Mac OS X. I just need to find the scripts, I guess. Thanks for the explanation.

TCL is just a programming language. The .tcl scripts that people refer to here are intended to be run on the Tivo itself. To do this you would need ftp/telnet access to the Tivo, which means it needs to be hacked. So, in reality, it is not very useful to most people here who have Series 3/TivoHD units unless they have replaced the prom in their Tivos.

TCL is just a programming language. The .tcl scripts that people refer to here are intended to be run on the Tivo itself. To do this you would need ftp/telnet access to the Tivo, which means it needs to be hacked. So, in reality, it is not very useful to most people here who have Series 3/TivoHD units unless they have replaced the prom in their Tivos.

Ooooooh... So it's not possible to enable telnet, ftp, ssh etc. on TiVo without PROM fiddling? I can't just copy over and enable the necessary binaries while I have the DVR drive removed?

__________________
Roamio Plus, Four HDs, Two DTs, One S2. (Yeah, I have a TiVo 'problem.') Mac Nut too.

Rich,
The original drive was unreliable before, prompting me to try the upgrade. I didn't really care about the programs on it but wanted to save cablecard setups, etc., so I ran the WinMFS transfer and thought it worked. I agree with you that the old drive is now officially NFG, but I think the problem might be mechanical rather than software as I had tried the kickstarts several times before and it fixed it for awhile but would then fail again. So I decided not to try that again and instead grabbed another of my Series3s, open the case, disconnected the drive and connected it to the PC to serve as the donor. I ran backup first, and am now running mfscopy. I couldn't find a way to not copy the programs, so Im doing that even though I don't care about them.
I'll let you know if it works this time. Thanks for you help and for your continued support of this group. You are a Godsend.
Regards,
Reid

Someone else can check me if I'm wrong here, but I believe the only Series 2s that can be software hacked are the ones that have a service number starting with TCD1 or TCD2. So, not the DT models. Maybe your other Series 2s, depending on the model. You probably would want to visit the Underground forum here and look for more info of this type.